Return to Pokemon
by Remers
Summary: A young girls story of returning to the world of Pokemon she used to love. Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, this story is completely fictional.
1. Chapter 1

A young girl walks down a crowded street, clutching a package in her arms. She keeps looking over her shoulder as she walks. Something catches her eye and she turns. Seeing whatever it is, she runs away from it. The girl runs into a lot of people and one of them knocks her down. The package falls out of her hands as she falls. She follows it with her eyes and crawls after it. A giant boot connects with her ribs and she rolls away. The boot's owner reaches for the package. A gun appears in front of the man's face.

"You touch that, or the girl, you get a bullet in your brain," says a big guy in a suit and sunglasses, despite the cloudy day.

The man looks shaken and backs up. The man in the suit signals to the girl. She comes and he points to the package. She picks it up and they walk off. As they walk, the girl looks over her shoulder. The man is being told off by someone else. The someone else looks at her and moves his finger across his throat. She shivers and continues walking.

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"Willow!"

The girl called groans and buries her head under her pillow.

"Willow!"

The call comes sharper now. She mumbles something and lifts her head.

"Coming!"

Willow gets out of bed and grabs her robe. She slides her feet into her slippers and stands up. Rubbing her head, she groans again. She walks to the door and opens it, and screams.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine, Alfred," Willow says. "Thanks for waking me up."

The butler nods and moves out of her way. She walks down the hall and down the stairs. She walks into the dining room and nods at the person sitting at the table.

"Didn't think you'd make it," she says, sitting down.

The boy smiles. "I'd never miss a chance to visit you."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," she replies. To the maid standing next to her, she says, "Toast with butter and eggs on them. Orange juice too."

The maid nods and walks off. The boy looks amused. She returns her gaze to him.

"So how are things going with you?" she asks.

"Fine," the boy answers. "What about you?"

Willow shrugs and picks up the orange juice the maid brought her. "Can't complain." She takes a drink. "A lot."

The boy looks amused once more. "How so?" He questions, hands folded and chin resting on them.

Willow sighs. "Well, business hasn't been going well since Daddy disappeared. The grunts are threatening to strike unless I start delivering the mula."

The boy nods understandingly. "You know that if you ever needed help…"

"Yes," she interrupts. "And I don't. He should be back any day now." She accepts the plate brought to her.

"Who?" he asks, confused.

Willow takes a bite of her toast and eggs. Chews, swallows. "Giovanni."

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"Vulpix, Quick Attack!"

A Vulpix speeds towards a target. It connects and the target breaks.

"Good job!" the girl says petting the Vulpix. "Today's been a great training day! We'll work more tomorrow."

The girl takes out a pokeball and Vulpix returns. She puts the ball back on her belt and stands up. She throws her head back and the sun catches her features.

She's young, no more then fourteen. Blonde hair, brilliant blue eyes and a beautiful face. Her bodily features are enhanced by the sky blue tank top and white skirt. On her feet, white socks and light blue, almost white, sneakers.

She feels a tap on her shoulder and she turns.

"Willow!" she says excitedly, hugging her.

"Nice to see you, Tanya," Willow says, lightly hugging her back.

For the first time, we get a good look at Willow. She is everything Tanya is not. Dark purple hair, eyes as black as night. Her clothes accent her face; dark purple t-shirt with a black trim and dark blue jeans. Black boots with red bottoms cover her small feet.

Despite her looks, she wears a genuine smile on her face at greeting her friend.

"How have you been?" Tanya asks, pulling back to face her friend.

"Not too bad," Willow replies. "You've changed."

Tanya giggles. "You've changed more then I have. Where have you been?"

"I've been busy," Willow says. "But I have more time on my hands now."

Tanya smiles, not knowing what her friend has been busy with. "Well I'm glad you're here. I want to battle you!"

At this, Willow hesitates. "I don't uh…"

Tanya looks at her quizzically. "Don't what?"

Willow looks away. "I don't really battle anymore."

Tanya's eyes grow wide. "What…"

Willow sighs. "I have a Pokemon on me, but it's really…"

"Great!" Tanya squeals, interrupting her friend. "Then let's go! There's a stadium just down the road!"

At that, Tanya grabs her Willow's hand and starts running.

They reach the stadium in a few minutes and register.

"You're the next ones up," the man at the counter says. "Good luck!"

"Thank you!" Tanya says, and pulls her friend into the stadium waiting room.

"Isn't this exciting?" Tanya asks. "If you enter a competition, you win money, but this is just for fun."

"I know," Willow says.

Tanya looks at her friend. "I thought you said you didn't…"

"I entered some competitions a while ago, when I was big on battling," Willow explains. "It's how I got some extra money."

Looking at the screen, she says, "Looks like we're up."

They both stand and make their way to the separate doors where they'll enter the field.

"Good luck!" Tanya says, disappearing behind the door.

"Same to you, my friend," Willow says to the closed door. "You're going to need it."


	2. Chapter 2

"Welcome to Phenac City Stadium! Today we have two experienced trainers, all the way from Agate Town!"

The crowd cheers.

"At one side of the stadium, a regular here in Phenac, Tanya!"

The crowd cheers wildly as the screen shows a live picture of Tanya. She blushes and waves shyly.

"At the other side, a new challenger, Willow!"

The screen shows Willow this time and the crowd cheers, only a little less wild now. She doesn't seem affected, doesn't even seem to notice the crowd.

"This is a special stadium match. Each trainer will use only one Pokemon. If the battle lasts more then two minutes, the terrain will change. Now let's spin the wheel to see what elemental field they will battle on first!"

The announcer pushes a button and a giant wheel-of-fortune with four symbols on them appears on the screen. He pushes another button and the wheel starts spinning. The crowd and the trainers watch as the wheel spins slower and slower. It stops on the symbol of grass.

"The trainers will start on the basic Grass terrain."

The floor of the battle field lowers as the cement floor, then rises as the grass.

"May the battle begin!"

A buzzer sounds and the trainers throw their Pokeballs into the air.

"Vulpix, I choose you!"

"Umbreon, let's go!"

A Vulpix and Umbreon appear on the field.

"Your Eevee evolved?" Tanya asks.

"A while ago," Willow replies. "Would you like the first move?"

Tanya grins. "Vulpix, Flamethrower."

"Safeguard!"

The Flamethrower is effectively blocked with Safeguard, but when the flames die away, Umbreon is nowhere to be seen.

Tanya looks puzzled for a moment, then sees something.

"Vulpix, Quick Attack, now!"

Vulpix takes off just as Umbreon leaps out of nowhere for a Bite attack.

"Good instincts," Willow says, raising her eyebrows. "I've only seen one other person who figured out that attack."

Before Tanya can ask who that other person was, Umbreon uses Quick Attack and Vulpix dodges.

"Better focus on the battle!" Willow calls out.

Tanya grimaces, "Vulpix, use Quick Attack!"

Vulpix sprints towards Umbreon. Umbreon stands there, waiting for the attack. But just before Vulpix hits, it leaps up.

"Flamethrower, now!"

Vulpix spins it's head and gets a direct hit on Umbreon.

Umbreon tumbles to the ground, but bounces back up, unhurt.

"But how…?" Willow wonders out loud.

"I tried to tell you that my Pokemon have all been through extensive training. Only one person was strong enough to beat them," Willow explains.

Willow's voice fades away as Vulpix trots over to Umbreon without a word from its trainer, who's watching it curiously.

Umbreon's hair stands on end as Vulpix approaches. It opens its mouth and bares its teeth, but Vulpix keeps moving forward towards it. As Vulpix gets closer, Umbreon leaps forward ferociously as if to attack, but then stops. It sniffs the wind which is blowing Vulpix's scent towards it.

All of a sudden, Umbreon leaps playfully at Vulpix and, before anyone realizes it, the two are playing like old friends.

"The two Pokemon seem to not want to battle anymore. This challenge is a draw!" The announcer says.

The crowd groans and the Pokemon are returned. The trainers walk out of the stadium.


	3. Chapter 3

"Some match huh?"

Tanya and Willow are walking down the street as the sun is setting.

"Yeah," Willow replies. "Umbreon has never done that before."

"Have you ever battled against someone they knew before?" Tanya questions with a smile.

Willow returns it, "No."

They continue to walk in silence for a while.

"Who was the only person to beat you before?"

Willow smiles. "A friend of yours. You should remember."

Tanya thinks for a minute. "It's not coming to me."

"Ash Ketchum."

Tanya grins widely. "Oh yeah. So how have you and him been getting along?"

"He visited the other day," she replies. "We talked for a while."

Tanya laughs. "Remember when you two first met?"

Willow smiles again, but softer. "Yeah. He was fighting Giovanni that day."

Tanya looks at Willow concernedly. "Are you okay?"

Willow looks back at Tanya and grins. "When am I not?"

The sun sets on the two girls, walking and talking without a care in the world.

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Flashback…

"How long has he been gone?" Ash looks at me.

"Only a little while," I reply, not looking at him.

"How long is that?"

I hesitate. "Are you sure you don't want some breakfast?"

"Willow."

"Two years."

He bores his eyes into my head while I look down at my food, not touching it.

"Two years," he repeats.

I nod, pushing the eggs around my plate.

"Where has he been?"

I finally look up at him, "How the hell should I know?"

He sighs and leans back in his chair, covering his eyes.

I say nothing. The maid comes in and asks if I've finished, to which I nod.

As she takes my plate away, Ash sits forward again and gazes at me.

"What?"

"You need a plan," he says, taking a phone out of his pocket.

"Great idea," I say, rolling my eyes. "Got any more?"

"As a matter of fact," he grins, dialing. "I do."

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"Alfred!"

"Yes madam?"

I jump back in fright as my faithful butler appears out of nowhere, as usual.

"I'm sorry madam," he says, bowing.

"It's alright," I say, holding my chest and attempting to calm my thumping heart. "At least you're punctual."

He smiles. "What can I do for you?"

"I need a formal dress and the telephone," I say, handing him my coat.

"In any particular order?"

"Telephone first please."

As he puts my coat away, I walk into the room that has been nicknamed The Office. It resembles anything but in reality.

A giant computer screen covers the whole north wall with multiple keyboards below it that control everything in the mansion. On the west wall, a blown-up map of all the regions of the world, from Kanto to Orre, hangs. On the east, multiple boards cover the wall with seemingly random papers stuck to them.

I walk over to the lowest board and pull off a picture. Two girls and two guys are smiling and linking arms while the beach spreads out behind them. A tall, dark skinned boy with dark brown hair has his arm around a blonde girl with a big smile. The other boy is standing slightly next to the blonde, but closer to a girl with dark purple hair. She has her head on his shoulder, gazing up at his tan face and running her hand through his black hair. A Pikachu rests on his shoulder while an Eevee sits on hers.

As I gaze at the picture, I feel a tear sliding down my cheek and wipe it away quickly.

"Are you alright madam?"

I spin around, startled once more. I see Alfred and nod.

"Here is the phone," he hands it to me.

"Thank you," I say.

He bows and leaves the room, pulling the double doors closed behind himself.

I stroll over to the doors and draw the curtains closed. I then turn around and dial a number from memory.

"I hope you didn't change your number," I mutter to myself, putting the phone to my ear.

As I hear a ringing, I mumble gratitude to an unseen force. The phone continues ringing for a couple seconds, then…

"Hello?"

I take a deep breath. "Is this the Pewter City Gym Leader?"

"Yes, who's speaking?"

"It's me, Willow."

"Willow! It's been so long!"

"Yeah, it has," I say, taking a deep breath. "I need a favor."

"Anything, but let's meet for lunch tomorrow."

"Alright."

We make arrangements to meet the next afternoon at a nearby coffee spot. Nearby for him.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Willow," he says.

"Can't wait," I reply. "Brock."


End file.
